Apparatus simulating the travel of a vehicle on a road



Jan. 28, 1964 A. CAFULLI ETAL 3,119,190

APPARATUS SIMULATING THE TRAVEL OF A VEHICLE ON A ROAD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Aug. 8, 1961 INVENT'O Rs A NNAMRRl/i cn Fuu. I

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United States Patent Ofilice 3,119,190 Patented Jan. 28, 1964 3,119,190APPARATUS SIMULATENG THE TRAVEL OF A VEHICLE UN A ROAD AnnamariaCafulli, 32 Via Pogatschnig, and Ezio Moriondo, 11 Via Ariosto, both ofMilan, Italy Filed Aug. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 130,102 Qlairus priority,application Italy Aug. 20, 1960 3 Claims. (Cl. 3511) This inventionrelates to an apparatus which reproduces a vehicle and its travel on asuitably reduced scale, together with all the continguent and fixedmembers, parts and components.

The simulated road over which the vehicle travels and the vehicle,itself, can be made to move in relation to one another at a speed whichmay be varied at will by means of driving controls similar to thosefound in a real vehicle and reproduced in the apparatus.

The apparatus is also equipped with devices capable of indicating thephysical and mental response of the driver operating the controls,signalling driving errors and the speed of mental reactions by means ofinstruments, or by automatically stopping the relative motion betweenthe road and the vehicle.

The operations of the driving controls are completely identical withthose the driver would be called upon to make When driving a realvehicle.

Other equipment, which partially serves the above purposes is already inuse, but such equipment requires the use of a number of differentapparatuses to test the drivers reactions.

Complex equipment also exists, but the size and cost of such equipmentmakes the extensive diffusion of such equipment problematical.

The invention herein embodied combines all the devices and instrumentstogether in a single apparatus of modest size and cost, making itpossible to test the mental reactions and response of the driver whenpresented with situations, which may also be of a complex nature, andrequiring simultaneous driving operations and reactions, reciprocallyinfluencing one another, as happens under actual driving conditions.

This invention may .be embodied in more or less cornplex and widelydiffering embodiments, according to whether the object is scientific,didactic, educational or recreational.

The invention is characterized by:

A moving strip, the speed of which may be controlled, reproducing on areduced scale the actual course of travel of a road and carryingelectrical contacts to define the location of the edges of the road,milestones, traffic signs, tratfic lights and, optionally, also othersigns or indications;

A reduced scale model of the vehicle, preferably held still in such away that the relative motion between the moving strip and the model willreproduce that of a vehicle in respect to a road, said model carryingelectrical contacts which close the electrical circuits whenever theycome in contact with the contacts located on the moving strip, saidmodel being driven by a life-size steering wheel, operated by thedriver, and provided with gear shift lever and pedals for the clutch,the accelerator and the brake, actuating relays and variable resistorsin the electrical circuit;

A panel on which visual indications of the traffic signs and trafliclights appear, or on which any other indications may appear as the modelapproaches them during its travel along the simulated road;

Devices to indicate and, optionally, also to record on a permanentrecord, the physical and mental reactions and response of the driverwhen operating the driving controls, signalling any errors in hisdriving and the promptness or lack of promptness of his mentalreactions, automatically stopping the motion of the moving strip;

Auxiliary devices to complete the reading and recording of the driversmental and physical reactions in the unexpected situations in which hemay come to find himself.

The accompanying drawings present a preferred, nonrest-rictive form ofembodiment of the apparatus embodying the invention, constructed foreducational and recreational purposes.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagr armnaticall longitudinal section of the apparatus withdiscontinuous moving strip;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatical longitudinal section of the apparatus withendless moving strip;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the moving strip;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatical plan view of the control de vices for themodel representing the vehicle;

FIG. 5 is a portion of a strip on which the driving behavior, showingthe mental-physical reactions of the driver, is recorded, giving apermanent record; and

FIG. 6 is the general electrical schematic diagram of the apparatus.

In reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus comprises a strip 1 offlexible, inextensible material of constant Width, which carries,impressed upon it or inserted it in, a drawing of a road, reproducing ona suitably reduced scale straight stretches of road, curves, squares,crossroads, junctions, railway crossings, etc. In addition, trafficsigns and milestones are reproduced on the strip in suitable locations.

The road may he of a color different from that of the strip to make itsoutline more readily evident.

Metal contacts 3 are located along the edge of the road protruding fromthe upper and lower sides of the strip and at distances which will heprovided for further on.

The contacts 4 are mounted, for example, on one margin of the strip andcontacts 5 and 6 are on the opposite margm.

Contacts 4 are located at the positions of the milestone; contacts 5 arelocated, in pairs, at the points where traffic signs indicate that thevehicles should slow down; contacts 6 are located in pairs at the pointswhere the vehicle is required to stop.

The distance between the two contacts of the pair 5 must always be thesame; the same applies to contacts 6.

The distance between contacts 5 must, however, be different from thedistance between contacts 6.

The strip may be made as long as desired and open, or it may be oflimited length and in the form of an endless helt (FIG. 2).

The length of the endless belt may be as long as 40 or even 50 meters,while that of the open strip may be considerably greater. Theconstruction of the apparatus is as follows: a box-shaped cabinet 7(FIGS. 1 and 2) carries rollers 8 and 9 mounted on suitable bearings.Roller 8, which is idle or free turning, is preferably located at aheight somewhat greater than that of roller 9 which is driven throughany type of transmission and speed reducer unit, for example, by V-beltsand pulleys, by an electric motor 11.

A friction clutch 12 of any type may be provided between the motor andits pulley and on any of the pulleys in the transmission a brake 13 maybe provided.

The drivers position is at the end of the cabinet near which driveroller 9 is located. Above, on the upper portion of the drivers end ofthe cabinet there is a steering wheel 14 with steering column on whichis mounted a selector switch 15 (see also FIG. 6) actuated by a lever 16similar to the gear shift lever of an automobile.

On the lower end of the drivers end of the cabinet there are threepedals: pedal 17 which operates the brake 13, pedal 18 which operatesthe clutch 12 and pedal 19, the accelerator, which operates a variableresistor 28.

Pressing pedal 19, the variable resistance 29 decreases gradually.

Strip 1 is supported by rollers 8 and 9. Roller 9, in turning, causesthe strip to move in the direction shown by the arrow, that is, fromroller 8 toward roller 9.

Roller 9 may be of rubber to insure that the strip will adhere to theroller and a roller 21 may also be provided, its weight restingvertically above roller 9 on the strip.

Roller 21 must also be properly guided so it will be free to shift in avertical direction only.

To keep the strip from sagging downwards between the two rollers 8 and9, a supporting surface is provided between them, as shown in 22. On thestrip, near roller 9 is located the model 23 of an automobile, providedwith a device for steering the front wheels, which face towards roller8.

The model is steered by the turning of the steering wheel 14, which,through shafts, levers and pulleys or the like 24, 25 and 26, acts on arocker arm 27 at the end of which are attached metal wires 28 connectedto the stub axles of the front wheels of the model 23.

The wires 28 (FIG. 4), in addition to transmitting the steering to themodel, also hold the model in the desired position in respect to thecabinet in a longitudinal direction.

The strip is picked up from a container 29 (FIG. 1) and is deposited inanother recipient 30 if of the open or discontinuous type of strip. If,instead, the strip is of the continuous or endless type (FIG. 2), it isdeposited after leaving roller 9 on the bottom of the cabinet, followinga natural procedure of folding loosely into layers which overlap oneanother, aided by slide 30. Before arriving again at roller 8, the strippasses between two plates 31 and 32 of insulating material, there beingsets of brush contacts 33, 34 and 35 (FIGS. 2 and 6) mounted on theinside facing surfaces of the two plates 31 and 32. The brush contactsare so arranged that they are opposite each other in pairs along themargins of the strip. In this way the strip serves as an insulationbetween the opposing sets of contacts, while contacts 4, and 6 mountedon the strip cause the circuits connected to brushes 33, 34 and 35 toclose (see also FIG. 6).

The brush contacts are connected up among one another as will bespecified further on. Contacts 34 are four in all, consisting of twoequidistantly spaced pairs; their distance apart is the same as that ofcontacts 6 on the strip. The brush contacts 35 are six in all,consisting of three pairs of contacts located at distances apart equalto the distance between the contacts 5 on the strip. A brush contact 36is also mounted under neath the model 23; another brush contact 37 ismounted on the supporting surface 22, in such a way that it comes incontact with contact 36 of model 23. Brush contact 37 extends over sucha width as will cover the entire part of the strip which contains theroad, whatever the point at which the strip comes to find itself duringits travel. A panel 38 may be located at the opposite end of the cabinetfrom the drivers position to indicate the distance travelled.

The panel 38 may be constructed in any of various ways: for example, itmay consist of a sheet of plate glass, covered with opaque material,except in limited areas left transparent and in which numerals aredrawn, corresponding to those on the milestones reproduced on the strip1.

Contacts 4 on the strip and the sets of bruch contacts 33 must be equalin number to the transparent areas on the plate glass, behind each ofwhich is located a lamp 39. At a position above the strip, for example,on the inside of the cabinet at one side, a model of a traffic light,with regular green 40, yellow 41 and red 42 lights, may be mounted. 7

Other lamps 43, 44 and 45 can be located in a readily visible positionfrom the drivers position, to indicate specific conditions of theelectrical circuit.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of one of the possi-- ble electricalcircuits capable of providing the desired operation of the apparatus.For the sake of clarity, the circuit will be described simultaneouslywith the description of the operation of the apparatus. Gear shift lever16 (FIGS. 1 and 6) has a neutral position and, in the embodiment hereindescribed, has three other positions corresponding to three gear shiftpositions.

A transformer 46 steps down the supply voltage to provide safe,low-voltage operation.

When lever 16 is in the neutral position, selector switch 15 energizesrelay 47 through switch 43, which closes when accelerator pedal 13 isreleased and stays closed as long as said pedal is pressed down up to asfar as half way.

Relay 47 is also self-excited through one of its moving contacts. Theother moving contact, instead, cuts off the supply of current to brushcontacts 36 of the model and 37 of the supporting surface 22. Theelectric motor 11 will then be out of the circuit.

When gear shift lever 16 is put in low gear, relay 49 is actuated,starting up electric motor 11.

Simultaneously, relay 47 will no longer be externally excited, butremains self-excited through switch 48. When the accelerator is presseddown more than half way, switch 48 opens the circuit and relay 47 isde-energized; one of its moving contacts thus places brush con tacts 36and 37 in the circuit. Shifting gear shift lever 16 to the second gearposition, relay 50 is excited, short circuiting one of the fixedresistors 51 placed in series with the variable resistor actuated byaccelerator 19.

In this way, by pressing the accelerator, the strip will now be able totravel at a greater speed than that attainable in low gear.

Shifting the lever 16 to high gear, the other fixed resistor 51 isshorted out, thus making it possible to attain a higher speed of thestrip than can be reached in second gear. In order that the apparatusmay operate properly, the driver must properly operate the drivingcontrols, specifically, he must avoid allowing the model 23 to go offthe road, he must obey the traflic signs and signals and must slow downor stop when required to do so.

In fact, if the driver fails to drive properly, the devices which stopthe moving strip come into play. The driving errors can be any of thefollowing: the model goes off the road; the driver fails to slow down;the driver fails to stop. When the model leaves the road contacts 3close, causing the circuit which energizes relay 52 to be supplied withcurrent by way of brushes 36 and 37, the moving contact of relay 52 thuscutting olT current to relay 49 and cutting electric motor 11 out of thecircuit, stopping it.

To put the model back on the road, one must release the accelerator 19,set gear shift lever 16 in neutral and then in low gear.

By accelerating lightly the model will be able to return onto the road,even if one of the contacts 3 happens to pass between brush contacts 36and 37, because relay 47' opens the brush circuit. Once the model hasreturned onto the road the accelerator can be pressed down all the wayand one can shift to second and high gear. When a road sign appearswhich requires that the driver slow down, the speed of the strip must bereduced by shifting into a lower gear than high.

If the lever is shifted into low gear the accelerator may be presseddown all the way; if, instead, one shifts down to second, theaccelerator must be pressed down to about halfway to keep switch 53 fromclosing, which would connect up the set of brushes 33 fixed to plates 31and 32 (FIG. 2).

The contacts 5 mounted on the strip close the circuit which excitesrelay 54 and thermal switch 55 when the accelerator is pressed down allthe way while gear shift lever 16 is in second gear, or when the lever16 is in high gear, whatever the position of the accelerator.

One of the mobile contacts of relay 54 opens the circuit supplying relay49 which causes the motor to stop.

Relay 54 is self-excited through thermal switch 55, which, after a fewseconds, cuts off the supply to relay 54 allowing the electric motor tobe started up again once the accelerator has been released and the gearshift lever has been thrown into neutral, after which one can shiftthrough the various gears again.

When coming up to a stop sign or stop signal, one must let off theaccelerator 19, place the gear shift lever in neutral and then lightlypress on the accelerator until the area in which the vehicle has beencalled upon to stop has been passed through. If this maneuver is notcarried out, the contacts 6 on the strip close the circuit supplying thebrush contacts 34 of plate 31 and 32 (FIG. 2), causing relay 54 to beexcited again as in the case of failure to slow down.

.One must still wait until thermal time delay relay 55 opens again,release the accelerator pedal 19, put the gear shift lever 16 in neutraland then go through the various gear positions again. If the trafiiclight 69 is installed four other sets of brush contacts 56 and 57 mustbe installed in plates 31 and 32.

Naturally, two sets of contacts 58 and 59 (see FIG. 3) must also bemounted on the strip at distances from one another equal to thosebetween brush contacts '6 and 57 (FIG. 6) and different from thedistances between contacts 5 and contacts 6 (FIG. 3).

An interruptor 66 supplies one of the brushes 56 at intervals. Whencontacts 58 of the strip pass between the brush contacts 56, nothingwill happen if switch as is open; if, instead, switch as is closed,relay 61 will be excited, which, in its rest position, keeps the traificlights green light 40 lit. When relay 61 is excited, the green andyellow lights 40 and 41 of the trafiic light light up simultaneously andthermal time delay relay 62 is excited, which, after a few seconds,excites relay 63, which interrupts the self-excitation of relay 61,putting out the green and yellow lights 40 and 41 and lighting up thered light 42. Relays 62 and 63 are self-excited through relay 47. Whenthe red light lights up, brush contacts 57 are also made hot so that ifthe driver fails to stop, contacts 59 of the strip close the excitationcircuit of relay 54 stopping the electric motor.

To start up the strip again, one must go through the same motions as inthe cases of failure to slow down or failure to stop. Lamps 39 on panel33 light up when the contacts 4 of the strip pass between the brushes 33of plates 31 and 32.

The closing of each brush circuit causes a self-excited relay to becomeexcited, which remains so, along with a corresponding lamp which lightsup. When the last lamp lights up, this causes relay 64 to close,interrupting the supply to the entire circuit and causing the strip tostop its motion.

Lamps 39 remain lit until manual switch 65 is operated, which, cuttingoff the source of supply, brings the circuit back to the positions shownat the beginning of the description.

To ensure that lights 39 light up in succession, the last set of brushcontacts 33, that is, the set which last touches contacts 4 on thestrip, lights up the first of lights 39 and, simultaneously, by way ofautoexcitation of the relay pro vided, it sends current to theimmediately preceding contact 33, so that the following contact 4 willclose the circuit and cause the second light 39 to light up and sendcurrent to the brush 33 for the third light, and so on.

The embodiment of the apparatus suitable for checking the physical andmental reactions of the driver may include all of the preceding detailsdescribed herein, or may be reduced, doing away with spectaculardetails, such, for example, as the panel 38 showing the mileagetravelled and the automatic stopping of the moving strip.

On the other hand, test instruments and recording devices are installedto show driving errors, as well as de vices for producing specialconditions and to detect and record the drivers mental reactions.

For example, an elastic device mounted on the steering wheel column maybe connected up to a detection and recording device to register anytrembling of the drivers hands or arms. A set of headlights may belocated in the vicinity of the road to check the drivers sight whensubjected to glare and afterwards.

By arranging for the headlights to light up near a curve in the road,one can readily determine whether the driver has effectively beenblinded by the glare and how long the condition continues after theheadlights have gone out. Traflic signs can be made to light up suddenlyusing light bulbs and indicating devices can be installed to check thepromptness of the drivers perception and the speed of his reaction.

In fact, a recording tape, running at a speed of mm. per second, forexample, and equipped with a writing pen actuated by electromagnetsexcited by the headlight control or by the luminous trafiic signs andother writing pens, actuated by electromagnets connected in the gearshifting circuits, the accelerator and steering device circuits, canindicate the time passing between the appearance of the sign or signaland the drivers reaction; this time can readily be evaluated inhundredths of a second because each millimeter of tape between the marksdrawn by the writing points represents a hundredth of a second (see FIG.5 in this respect). For example, the road may be divided into twoseparate lanes with a sudden signal instructing which lane to take andthe writing recorder can be used to check the promptness of the responseand the perception of the signal.

It will be appreciated that the form of the invention described above isillustrative only and that it may be carried out in other ways nad otherequipment without departing from the spirit or essential attributesthereof. It is desired and indicated that the embodiment described abovebe considered merely as illustrative and not restrictive, referencebeing had to the appended claims rather than the foregoing descriptionto indicate the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. An apparatus simulating the travel of a vehicle on a road comprising:

a flexible longitudinally movable strip representing a road,

motor means for driving said strip longitudinally,

braking means for halting the motion of said strip,

a model vehicle on said strip, said vehicle being movable in a directiontransverse to the length of said strip, said vehicle being heldsubstantially fixed in the direction of travel of said strip, wherebythe relative motion between said strip and said vehicle in the directionof said strip is due to the movement of said strip,

a steering wheel spaced from said vehicle,

steering means linking said steering wheel to said vehicle whereby thetransverse position of said vehicle on said strip is determined by theangular position of said steering wheel,

electrical contacts on the under side of said vehicle, and

electrical contacts on said strip,

control means for actuating said braking means when said electricalcontacts on said vehicle contact selected ones of said electricalcontacts on said strip,

whereby an operators manipulation of said steering wheel will determinethe frequency of contact between said electrical contacts on saidvehicle and said electrical contacts on said strip.

2. An apparatus simulating the travel of a vehicle on a road comprising:

a fiexible longitudinally movable strip,

two rollers spaced apart and supporting a portion of said strip,

motor means for driving said strip longitudinally around said rollers,

braking means for halting the motion of said strip,

a model vehicle on said strip, said vehicle being movable in a directiontransverse to the length of said strip, said vehicle being heldsubstantially fixed in the direction of travel of said strip, wherebythe relative motion between said strip and said vehicle in the directionof said strip is due to the movement of said strip,

a steering wheel spaced from said vehicle,

steering means linking said steering wheel to said vehicle whereby thetransverse position of said vehicle on said strip is determined by theangular position of said steering Wheel,

electrical contacts on the under side of said vehicle, and

electrical contacts on said strip,

control means for actuating said braking means when said electricalcontacts on said vehicle contact selected ones of said electricalcontacts on said strip,

whereby an operators manipulation of said steering wheel will determinethe frequency of contact between said electrical contacts on saidvehicle and said electrical contacts on said strip.

3. An apparatus simulating the travel of a vehicle on a road comprising:

a flexible movable strip forming a continuous loop,

a feed roller and a return roller, said rollers being spaced apart tosupport a portion of said strip, said roller being spaced apart by adistance substantially less than half the entire length of said strip,

motor means for driving said strip from said feed roller to said returnroller,

a container under said rollers for holding the unsupported portion ofsaid strip,

an inclined side portion of said container located under said returnroller to cause said strip to be deposited in overlapping folds in saidcontainer when said strip is being driven,

braking means for halting the motion of said strip,

a model vehicle on said strip, said vehicle being movable in a directiontransverse to the length of said strip, said vehicle being heldsubstantially fixed in the direction of travel of said strip, wherebythe relative motion between said strip and said vehicle in the directionof said strip is due to the movement of said strip,

a steering wheel spaced from said vehicle,

steering means linking said steering wheel to said vehicle whereby thetransverse position of said vehicle on said strip is determined by theangular position of said steering wheel,

electrical contacts on the under side of said vehicle,

and

electrical contacts on said strip,

control means for actuating said braking means when said electricalcontacts on said vehicle contact selected ones of said electricalcontacts on said strip,

whereby an operators manipulation of said steering wheel will deter-minethe frequency of contact between said electrical contacts on saidvehicle and said electrical contacts on said strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,088,264 Heinis July 27, 1937 2,269,444 Durham et a1 Ian. 13, 19422,273,091 De Silva Feb. 17, 1942 2,341,312 Chedister Feb. 8, 19442,742,714 Allgaier Apr. 24, 1956 2,908,087 Weinreich et a1 Oct. 13, 1959FOREIGN PATENTS 536,745 France Feb. 17, 1922

1. AN APPARATUS SIMULATING THE TRAVEL OF A VEHICLE ON A ROAD COMPRISING:A FLEXIBLE LONGITUDINALLY MOVABLE STRIP REPRESENTING A ROAD, MOTOR MEANSFOR DRIVING SAID STRIP LONGITUDINALLY, BRAKING MEANS FOR HALTING THEMOTION OF SAID STRIP, A MODEL VEHICLE ON SAID STRIP, SAID VEHICLE BEINGMOVABLE IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THE LENGTH OF SAID STRIP, SAIDVEHICLE BEING HELD SUBSTANTIALLY FIXED IN THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OFSAID STRIP, WHEREBY THE RELATIVE MOTION BETWEEN SAID STRIP AND SAIDVEHICLE IN THE DIRECTION OF SAID STRIP IS DUE TO THE MOVEMENT OF SAIDSTRIP, A STEERING WHEEL SPACED FROM SAID VEHICLE, STEERING MEANS LINKINGSAID STEERING WHEEL TO SAID VEHICLE WHEREBY THE TRANSVERSE POSITION OFSAID VEHICLE ON SAID STRIP IS DETERMINED BY THE ANGULAR POSITION OF SAIDSTEERING WHEEL, ELECTRICAL CONTACTS ON THE UNDER SIDE OF SAID VEHICLE,AND ELECTRICAL CONTACTS ON SAID STRIP, CONTROL MEANS FOR ACTUATING SAIDBRAKING MEANS WHEN SAID ELECTRICAL CONTACTS ON SAID VEHICLE CONTACTSELECTED ONES OF SAID ELECTRICAL CONTACTS ON SAID STRIP, WHEREBY ANOPERATOR''S MANIPULATION OF SAID STEERING WHEEL WILL DETERMINE THEFREQUENCY OF CONTACT BETWEEN SAID ELECTRICAL CONTACTS ON SAID VEHICLEAND SAID ELECTRICAL CONTACTS ON SAID STRIP.